


We Are The Champions

by magicianparrish



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Based on the 2015 events, F/F, F/M, M/M, Soccer, WORLD CUP AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 10:59:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4604193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianparrish/pseuds/magicianparrish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Women's World Cup AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Character Sheet.

Character sheet: 

  1. **Drew Tanaka** : GK, 25 yrs, Hometown: Delphos, OH, Club: FC Kansas City

  2. **Gwen Quigley** : DF, 29 yrs, hometown: Laholm, Sweden,  Club: Seattle Reign FC

  3. **Sadie Kane** : DF, 21 yrs, hometown: Los Angeles, CA,  Club: Sky Blue FC

  4. **Bianca di Angelo** : MF, 20 yrs, hometown: Venice, Italy,  Club: Boston Breakers

  5. **Silena Beauregard** : MF, 27 yrs, hometown: Auburn, GA,  Club: Boston Breakers

  6. **Hazel Levesque** : DF, 24 yrs, hometown: New Orleans, LA,  Club: Western NY Flash

  7. **Kayla Soleil** : DF, 24 yrs, hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, FL,  Club: Chicago Red Stars

  8. **Hylla Ramirez-Arellano** : GK, 35 yrs, hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico,  Club: Portland Thorns

  9. **Lacy Sanchez** : DF, 22 yrs, hometown: Santa Clara, NM, Club: Houston Dash

  10. **Nyssa Samara** : DF, 29 yrs, hometown: Brooklyn, NY,  Club: Washington Spirit

  11. **Zia Rashid** : MF, 27 yrs, hometown: Al-Hamrah Makan, Egypt,  Club: Houston Dash

  12. **Clarisse La Rue** : GK, 28 yrs, hometown: Phoenix, AZ,  Club: Houston Dash

  13. **Jaz Anderson** : FW, 24 yrs, hometown: Nashville, TN, Club: FC Kansas City

  14. **Piper McLean** : MF, 23 yrs, hometown: Los Angeles, CA,  Club: Sky Blue FC

  15. **Laurel Hamilton** : MF, 24 yrs, hometown: El Dorado, KS, Club: Chicago Red Stars

  16. **Miranda Gardiner** : MF, 23 yrs, hometown: Toms River, NJ,  Club: Western NY Flash

  17. **Phoebe Cacciatore** : FW, 29 yrs, hometown: Arlington, KN,  Club: Portland Thorns FC

  18. **Annabeth Chase** : FW, (c.), 29 yrs, hometown: Richmond, VA,  Club: Boston Breakers

  19. **Zoë Khaleel:** MF, 37 yrs, hometown: Pittsburgh, PA,  Club: Seattle Reign FC

  20. **Reyna Ramirez-Arellano** : DF, (c.), 27 yrs, hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico,  Club: Seattle Reign FC

  21. **Lou Ellen Knox** : FW, 25 yrs, hometown: Baton Rouge, LA,  Club: Washington Spirit

  22. **Katie Stoll** : MF, 25 yrs, hometown: Hilo, HI,  Club: Sky Blue FC

  23. **Thalia Grace** : FW, 32 yrs, hometown: Los Angeles, CA, Club: Chicago Red Stars




 


	2. Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1

"As the 2015 Women's World Cup comes around the corner in Canada teams from all over the world are preparing to make sure that they're the best that they can be," the Fox News reporter said on the television screen.

"Yes and the US women's team under Christopher Brunner surely is thriving with the team line up this year, let's get a look shall we beginning with our three goalkeepers," Reporter Victoria Simon said.

A video of a tall woman with light brown hair pulled up in a tight ponytail came into view. She had a stocky view and her light brown eyes were intimidating to look at. At a glance you could tell that she was not one to be messed with. Her name came up on the bottom left with her position.

"Clarisse La Rue of the Houston Dash coming back for third Women's World Cup. In the 2011 Cup in Germany she was named the best goalkeeper in the competition," Aaron Snipes commented.

"It's so great that they have her back for yet another round of competition. She has been keeping this team in it and is a master of figuring out where the ball is going to go and getting to it before it goes into her net," Victoria added.

The next goal keeper walked on into the video. She was Asian and had her hair down in black ringlets. Around her brown eyes was her infamous pink eyeliner that only she could manage to pull off.

"Drew Tanaka of FC Kansas City is back up. Starting two games the last time she was called up for the National team. Sure is a pretty face to look at, but don't let that fool you. She will beat you down if you let her," Victoria continued.

A tall Latina woman had a soccer ball in her hands. Her hair was braided down and over her shoulder. She looked up to the camera and she had the most intense brown eyes of all the goalkeepers.

"And finally the seasoned veteran, Hylla Ramírez-Arellano, the older of the Puerto Rican dynamite duo. Going to be her fourth world cup, which I can't believe. Gladly stepping down after her second win to let La Rue take a shot at the gold, she is a legend," Aaron Snipes commented.

The screen panned out into the panel of five reporters outside Alamodome in San Antonio. They all nodded in agreement to her statement about the goalkeepers.

Hector Beckett put the microphone towards his face and turned towards the camera. His light brown hair and blue eyes gave the vibe that he was friendly and excited to talk about soccer.

"From Chris Brunner we have seven great defenders, let's take a look."

They transitioned to a woman with strawberry blonde hair and freckles adorning her face with a big white smile. Her light green eyes were beautifully startling to look at. She had the look of someone from Scandinavia.

"Yes the wonderful Gwen Quigley, welcoming her third world cup as well for the United States team. She's a favorite of this team for sure," Beckett's voice said over the video.

A young looking woman with straight dirty blonde hair came onto screen. She had red and blue streaks scattered along the braid she was wearing making the weave look nice. She had startling blue eyes and a glare that could kill.

"Sadie Kane, the vicious defender from who grew up in England. Making her World Cup debut this year and looking promising," Hector commented.

The next woman to come on screen was a woman with dreadlocks tied together into a ponytail and an american flag bandana over her head. Her dark brown eyes matched her dark skin and she looked regal and lethal.

"Nyssa Samara will be joining up once again with the Women's national team after making her debut in the 2012 Olympics and this will be her first World Cup with Chris Brunner and the rest of the women on this team as well," Beckett's voice said.

Another dark skinned woman came onto the screen. She looked less intimidating but the curly brown hair that was down to her shoulders and the golden eyes she possessed told you she could hold her own just fine.

"Probably the smallest player on the team, Hazel Levesque from Seattle Reign is joining us for her second World Cup. She may be tiny, but this girl is a force to be reckoned with."

A redhead with hazel eyes and freckles all over her face came on. She had a bright smile on looking the happiest of all of them so far.

"The Florida native Kayla Soleil debuting in her first World Cup as well. The defender of the Chicago Red Stars looking good to go for Canada this summer."

The next defender is a woman who is on the younger side. She had platinum blonde hair, dark skin and light brown eyes. She crossed her arms on her chest and looked straight into the camera.

"Lacy Sanchez, the New Mexico native looking ready for action and blood in her debut. At just twenty two years old, she's looking to make her first cap in this tournament."

The last defender came onto screen. She was a hispanic woman whose dark eyes pierced you with one glance. She crossed her arms and a serious look remained on her face.

"Oh yes! Reyna Ramírez-Arellano a fan favorite of this team and tough as nails. Part of the dynamic duo with her older sister. It's literally impossible to break this girl physically, and emotionally. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to enjoy watching her play."

It panned back out to the five reporters again. Hector turned to the auburn haired woman next to him.

"Well that ends the starting lineup for the defenders of this team. Diana what do you think of this team of defenders we have?"

"I think we have a solid lineup going for this team. I know Chris Brunner doesn't just choose players for the sake of choosing. It's hard to get onto this national team and every player brings a specific talent to perform to make sure that they win. I don't see any kinks in this defending armor."

"If the United States was to win a World Cup I think it would be because of the four defenders. I mean Reyna Ramírez-Arellano has been the backbone of this defensive line and has the leadership skills to bring this team to victory. Hazel Levesque, she is able to weave her way through opponents and get the ball out of dangerous territory. This squad of defenders is the best the United States Women's team has ever seen I think," Victoria added.

Hector turned to the camera once again after nodding in agreement with what both women had to say about the defenders.

"Now we get a look at Chris Brunner's eight midfielders that he had lined up for us."

A woman with tan skin, light brown hair with highlights pulled up into a bun and dark green eyes showed up on screen. She flashed a smile to the camera and her name appeared below her and her position.

"Katie Stoll joining the roster once again for her second World Cup with Chris Brunner. She played beautifully during the exhibition match against New Zealand just a few weeks ago and we're hoping she brings the same intensity to the World Cup as well."

A women who looked arabic showed up, she had the same intense aura around her that said not to mess around with her. She looked ready to kill anyone who stood in her way.

"Zoë Khaleel one of the oldest players on the team has joined forces once again with Chris Brunner to participate in her fifth World Cup. She has played her first two for Spain before being recruited to play for the United States."

An olive toned woman appeared. She was a lot more gentile looking than Zoë who was right before her. She had light brown eyes and her glossy black hair was up in a high ponytail. She gave a small smile to the camera.

"Bianca di Angelo the youngest player on the starting lineup at the age of twenty but arguably one of the best players Chris Brunner has. Still in the beginnings of a career that will be great."

A Native American woman stepped into the camera and turned forward. She had choppy brown hair to her shoulders that she pulled off nicely. Her eyes were hazel, seeming to always change color. She wore a smirk that told you she was confident in her abilities.

"Piper McLean! Truly one of the most talented players on the team technical skills wise. This woman knows how to play her opponents and find opportunities. She is a valuable player for this team if they want to win."

A woman who looked almost alike to Zoë came into view. She had eyes that looked like they were on fire and they were outlined nicely in black eyeliner traditional egyptian style. Her black hair was chopped to her jaw line and she was serious.

"Zia Rashid, the Egyptian native joining us again for another world cup. She's been playing phenomenally with the Houston Dash, having almost a hundred caps in her career. Can't wait to see her."

The next woman was had a bright smile on her face. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a pink headband wrapped around it. Her blue eyes were bright and she was stunning.

"Silena Beauregard another beauty with brawn attached. She is a great midfielder joining the team again for her second world cup."

A woman who had brown hair chopped in a pixie cut turned around and crossed her arms. She had amber eyes that were startling to look at, especially with the lighting of the background.

"Laurel Hamilton, from El Dorado, yes that's her real hometown's name. She's looking to get what's there by joining us for her first world cup."

A curly brown haired woman who had a blue headband on to keep them in check walked on with deep green eyes. She gave a small smile to the camera with her hands on her hips.

"The tough New Jersey native, Miranda Gardiner coming back for revenge after missing her PK during the final against Japan four years ago. You can tell that nothing will stand in her way from scoring either."

"Now Aaron what do you think of the lineup for the midfielders on Chris Brunner's team?" Hector asked.

"This team is truly unique and probably the best team we've had since the Olympus Squad back in the late 90s. The midfielders are some of the fastest women I've seen and know how to recover quickly and efficiently. Zoë Khaleel who is turning thirty seven years old in October is still able to run like she's in her teens again; it's truly a remarkable sight to see honestly. Bianca di Angelo and Piper McLean are a power duo that when working together is unstoppable."

Hector laughed. "You want unstoppable how about the five forwards then."

The video zoomed out onto a woman and showed up until her legs. She was on the shorter side but had her arms crossed and a glare set on the camera. Her black spiky hair had a blue headband around it matching the jersey and her electrifying blue eyes were outlined in heavy black eyeliner.

"The Lightning Bolt herself, Thalia of the oldest players on the team, she is a force to truly be reckoned with. Extremely aggressive and not afraid to show it, she is able to shock her opponents with it and use it to her advantage. It really is no surprise that Chris Brunner has chosen her once again for her fourth World Cup."

With the American flag in the background they showed a blonde girl with her hair up in a tight bun. She had ice blue eyes that her tan skin made stand out even more. She was lithe and lethal.

"Jaz Anderson of FC Kansas City making her first welcome to the World Cup. Making her first cap in the 2012 Olympics she looks ready to compete again and bring this cup home for the United States."

This woman was a ginger with curly red hair pulled back into a french braid. She had brown eyes and freckles scattered along her face.

"Phoebe Cacciatore from Kentucky. Making her third World Cup appearance as a forward under Chris Brunner."

With her arms crossed, this woman had half her head shaved in a undercut with the rest cut to her shoulders. The undercut was dyed a deep purple color and her other hair was black as night. Her emerald green eyes sparkled when she smirked at the camera.

"The ever mysterious Lou Ellen Knox from Baton Rouge. Unpredictable what kind of fancy footwork she will pull on the field, but she will always be reliable to get a goal when in the box. A great addition to the team."

The next woman showed up with her head turned to the side. She sharply whipped it around forward and intensely stared into the camera. Her curly blonde hair was up in a high ponytail with a pink headband going across it. She had tan skin and gray eyes that were sharp and scary to look at.

"And the force that will bring this team together, Annabeth Chase! Captain of both the Boston Breakers and the National Team, she has been the fan favorite since she first stepped into the playing field at the age of seventeen, fresh outta high school in the 2004 Olympics in Athens."

It panned out back to the five reporters once more. Hector turned to his left to the black haired woman who had yet to say anything.

"Athena what do you have to say about the forwards on this team?"

She had the same startling gray eyes as Annabeth Chase and she was the most regal and composed looking one out of all of the reporters.

"The starting forwards are truly a force to be reckoned with Hector. Thalia Grace with her unavoidable aggression is bound to strike some fear into the hearts of the opponents they're going to face. The Lightning Bolt never fails to strike her opponents, even at this age. Annabeth Chase, she is a natural born leader as well as a phenomenal player and will be the person to lead this team to victory."

Victoria nodded her head at Athena. "Annabeth Chase is really a one of a kind player that Chris Brunner struck gold on. Even at the inexperienced age in Athens she proved her worth in the last twenty minutes of the final where she scored that goal to win the game. She was just a substitute then. But she has grown into quite a player and woman who could go into the hall of fame in the direction she's heading for sure."

"Annabeth Chase never fails to amaze me. I mean she is so resilient and hard working. Four years back, she gave birth to twins and went back to work only three months later! She is one of the most dedicated players in this league and she will not fail to put on a show and step up the game not only for her but for her team as well," Diana added.

"Chris Brunner's lineup for this years World Cup is something to behold ladies and gentleman. I expect a great tournament from the United States women," Hector said concluding the segment.

* * *

 

For once Percy was not woken up by the sounds of his son and daughter; instead it was the slamming of all the drawers and grunting coming from his wife that woke him up from his nice sleep. Instinctively he reached out to the other side of the bed to find it empty and already made neatly and cold. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up and watched his wife run around their room.

Percy was married to Annabeth Chase, a well renowned soccer player and captain of both her club and the National Team as well. With the travelling around she does, she has definitely made the life of the Jackson's interesting. After she gave birth to the twins and their family expanded, she tried to take all of them wherever she went. They, meaning Percy and the twins were able to usually go to the home games, but for some scheduling didn't work between jobs and they just stayed in Boston where they live.

Annabeth was in a blue tanktop and had black athletic shorts on and was currently trying to tie her hair up into a ponytail. She finally looked up and realized that Percy was up. Her face broke out into a smile before she turned around to get more clothes from the closet.

"About time you woke up Perce, I was almost going to dump water onto you. Get up and ready you have to drive me to Logan in about an hour," she said with her back turned.

Percy stretched and got out of bed walking over to the bathroom that's in their room. He kept the door open as he washed his face to fully wake him up.

"Is that why you're running around like a crazy person this morning?" he asked.

Annabeth whipped her head around and glared at Percy. Honestly it still scared him when she did that; the dark brown eyebrows that contrasted with her light blonde hair and the gray eyes that darkened due to the degree of her anger was a deadly combination.

"Shut up and get the kids up will you?"

He must of made a real obvious pouty face because she just glared again and pointed to the door. Percy loved his kids, but getting them up in the morning was impossible. They often switched days on who gets them up. Percy walked out of the bathroom and down the hallway to the twins room.

They were four years old therefore they still shared a room. Once they were older one would move into the right now storage room for all the unnecessary things they have in the house. The sun was already shining down into the room making it lighter, but they were still in a deep sleep. He walked over to his son's bed first and patted him on the shoulder.

"Emerson it's time to wake up," Percy said softly.

The little black haired kid mumbled something incoherent and scrunched his nose. He was an exact copy of Percy, just like he was with his father. There was no resemblance of Annabeth in their son. Percy sighed knowing this was going to happen. He shook his son again.

"C'mon don't be difficult. If you are I won't let you watch mommy's soccer games," Percy lightly threatened.

Emerson rolled onto his back and opened up one green eye to look up at Percy. He was staring at him for a few minutes before he stretched his little body and stood up. Percy smiled and ruffled his son's black hair before making his way over to his daughter.

Over on her side of the room she was still peacefully sleeping. He saw that her hearing aids had fallen out of her ears which is why she wasn't awake yet. He gently rubbed her shoulder to wake her up. She was a lighter sleeper than Emerson and immediately a light brown eye opened up from underneath the blonde head of hair. Percy smiled down at his daughter.

He signed:  _good morning Maya, it's time to get up and get ready._

She just groaned and made a face at him. He picked up the hearing aids and showed them in front of her. With that she sat up and he helped put them back in her ears and turned them on.

"I'll say what I just said to Emerson, get ready or I won't let you watch mommy's soccer games."

The twins loved watching Annabeth's soccer games, in fact Percy would say that they're her number one fans. They were probably just as famous as Annabeth herself. But, the whole Chase-Jackson family is famous.

When Percy and Annabeth were both eighteen, they had both gone to the Olympics in Athens. They had been best friends since they were twelve, but she lived out in San Francisco and him in Manhattan. They met up every summer at a summer camp but had a difficult means of communication the rest of the year. Cell Phones weren't a thing back in their day, or even email. So when they ran into each other at the Olympic village without knowing the other was there, their relationship just took off.

They had a long distance relationship going during college, with her playing division one soccer at Harvard and him going to a SUNY because money doesn't grow on trees. After his Olympic fame, he retired from swimming and ended up becoming a firefighter. And now here they were with Annabeth still playing soccer and having two kids to take care of together. It was more than Percy could ever ask for.

The twins were running around getting ready and Percy took it as his cue to leave and go back into his own. Annabeth was brushing her teeth when he walked back in. She raised an eyebrow asking him silently if he did what she asked. He nodded and walked to get dressed. He would shower when he got home from dropping off Annabeth.

She was flying off to Chicago to continue training with the national team once again for a few days before flying out to Winnipeg, Canada where the first game of the tournament would be. Percy had already taken his vacation time off from his job to attend the matches up in Canada. He was even taking the twins up with him because they would throw a fit if they couldn't see their mom kick ass. He was even going out to the Vancouver games.

He wrapped his arms around Annabeth who stiffened out of surprise. Percy leaned his head against her shoulder and smiled. He heard her take a deep breath.

"I want to see you wear your jersey," Percy whispered.

She turned her head to the side with an arched eyebrow.

"It's already packed. I'm not taking it out," she responded.

Percy made a pouty face showing his displeasure with his wife's response. He tried to give her the seal face which usually worked charms on her, but she instead glared at him in retaliation.

"No! Don't give me the Medusa Glare! I hate that," Percy exclaimed.

She groaned and escaped his grasp on her. She turned away from him and threw her hands up in the air.

"I swear to god I hate that saying! Ever since those freaking announcers coined that phrase in Athens it's haunted me!"

Percy laughed at Annabeth's burst of anger and frustration. He knew she hated that saying because then they made the joke about being married to him, whose real name was Perseus, the slayer of Medusa. It annoyed her to no end.

Suddenly the twins burst through the door running towards Annabeth and hugging both of her legs. They were so little next to Annabeth who stood at 5'11" and Percy loved the image of that. He figured that his kids would probably be tall because both of them are very tall. A smile broke out on his face.

"Emerson, Maya do you want to see mommy in her soccer jersey?" Percy asked with fake innocence.

Annabeth immediately caught on to what was happening and realized that she was defeated by numbers. She shook her head and rolled her eyes while peeling off the two kids. They bounced up and down screaming: "Yes! Yes! Yes! Mommy put it on!"

"Which one the blue of white one?"

"Blue!" Percy and the twins said at the same time. Percy looked and fake glared at them and they did it back.

She walked over to the bed where her suitcase was and started to look through the clothes to find the jersey. When she pulled it out, with her back still turned she took off her tanktop. Looking at her tan, toned shoulders made Percy want to drool and make out with her. It has always been a huge turnon for him, but he had to keep himself under control with the twins around. She put the shirt on and you could see the name Chase written on the back with number eighteen in white letters.

She turned around to face us with her arms out wide. She had her left eyebrow arched and a small smile written on her face. The number eighteen was in the center of her chest along with the United States Women's Soccer Team insignia on the top left. All three of them nodded their heads yes.

"Don't worry, you'll see me in this jersey during the tournament. But I'll be wearing the white one on Monday."

Annabeth bent down and put her hands on her knees and looked the twins right in the eyes.

"Go and brush your teeth and daddy will bring you to your favorite restaurant after you drop me off okay?"

"Okay!" both Emerson and Maya yelled before running off.

Annabeth pulled her hair out of the ponytail it was in and put into a messy bun of blonde curls. She turned around while taking off the jersey showing off her back again to Percy. He could see the Olympic Rings tattooed on the base of her neck and the two blackbirds representing the twins on her left forearm with some lyrics from the famous Beatles song ( _Blackbird_  also just so happens to be Annabeth's favorite Beatles song). And on her right side of the hip was the USWNT insignia.

Percy had a few tattoos of his own. Him and Annabeth had gotten the matching Olympic rings together, but his is on the left ankle. He also has a trident on his right forearm. Not as many as Annabeth, but they were also bigger than hers and more noticeable. She turned around with her tanktop back on.

She put the suitcase down on the ground and had her hand on it.

"It's time to drive me so I don't miss my flight," she said.

Percy nodded and they walked out into the atrium of the home. They lived in the outskirts of Boston, more of a suburbs area. But they were in walking distance of Boston if they wanted to stroll out to the city.

The kids were already standing by the door. Percy took the car keys off the table in the kitchen and opened the door. Emerson and Maya went running out towards the Honda Pilot. He unlocked it and they jumped in the car and slammed the door shut. Annabeth put her stuff in the trunk of the car and went into the passenger seat.

The entire ride to Logan International they were playing Disney soundtracks with the twins singing at the top of their lungs. Percy joined in when the Little Mermaid songs came on, Annabeth when the Lion King was on. It made separating just a little bit more bearable.

When they pulled up, the entire clan came out of the car. Percy opened up the trunk while Annabeth grabbed her stuff. She bent down to the ground and gave Emerson and Maya a big hug. She nuzzled her head in between them, and they to her. Percy was trying not to tear up at the sight, but he was an easy crier. He saw that some people were cooing at the sight and that some people even recognize who they were. He saw her whisper something into their ears and she stood up.

She walked over to Percy and hugged him tight as well. He embraced her like she was leaving forever. They stayed silent for a few moments before she leaned up and kissed him. When they separated her gray eyes looked right into his.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too. I'll miss you," he responded.

"You'll see me in a week. You won't be lonely, you'll be with the Soccer Spouse Club again," she said with a wink and a smirk.

He rolled his eyes and smiled. The Soccer Spouse Club was all the friends that he's made who were with the players on the National Team. They all sit together for every game during either the World Cup or the Olympics depending on the year. He only see's them all together every couple of years. The only people he sees regularly is Nico di Angelo, Will Solace and Charlie Beckendorf. Nico's sister Bianca (Will's sister-in-law) and Beckendorf's wife Silena Breakers with Annabeth.

"Yeah I guess you're right. I'll see you soon," he said concluding the conversation.

They kissed once more, getting a round of "ewws!" from Emerson and Maya. They both laughed at their kids. Annabeth took her suitcase, turned around, waved and walked through the doors into the airport.

* * *

Annabeth periodically sent videos and pictures of her and the team while Percy and the twins were still in Boston. They'd take a flight out to Winnipeg on Saturday and will stay in a hotel near by. Getting the videos was the best part of the day for everyone. The twins were well loved by every girl on the National Team and they would always say hi on the videos that Annabeth would take on her iphone.

Both Percy and Annabeth had twitter and instagram, but Annabeth seldom used it. Percy was the one to document their lives on social media to all the fans who loved the Olympic family as many call them. Sometimes when they're not busy and it's a slow day, they do get togethers with fans to talk and sign autographs for everyone. They don't have a celebrity superiority complex mindset, because they don't like the limelight. Percy and Annabeth lead a pretty under the radar life. It only becomes more noticeable when the Olympics and World Cup come around because the soccer craze kicks up again. Because it was really close to game day, people had started coming up to Percy and the twins when he was strolling through Boston asking for pictures and whatnot. He of course never denies it, and he even keeps a pen in his pocket in case it happens.

His favorite thing though was when he was watching TV with the kids and a commercial about the World Cup comes on. It was always intense and whenever Annabeth showed up Emerson and Maya would jump up and point to the screen with big smiles on their faces.

"Look it's mommy! She's awesome!" They would yell with delight.

Percy always kept his phone on him so he would be able to video tape it and send it to her. She would roll her eyes and text how she hates seeing herself on TV. Percy could imagine it vividly in his head. They knew everything about each other and all their mannerisms.

It was an off day at the Firehouse today which next to nothing happening. The kids were at daycare for the day and they would be picked up by the babysitter when they were finished. He wasn't working overtime today because he needed to take care of the twins and not stay for twenty four hours at the firehouse. He was just laying back in the lounge at the firehouse reading the newspaper.

His cellphone started ringing filling up the lounge with its sound. The other guys looked around with eyebrows raised but continued doing their own business. Percy put the newspaper down and picked up the phone.

"Percy get your laptop out," he was greeted by his close friend Rachel.

"Feeling a little blunt today Dare?" He said back.

Rachel scoffed on the other end of the phone. She was his best school friend in high school. The feisty redhead was a photographer and artist and she works for all kinds of photo companies. He knew that when the Olympics come around she works for Sports Illustrated.

"Just do it Percy," she finally said.

He put the phone against his ear and shoulder while digging around looking for his laptop. He pulled out his Dell which was covered in sharpie and stickers from both the twins and Rachel making it a psychedelic swirl of colors. He opened it up and logged in.

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Go onto youtube and type in Sports Illustrated," Rachel instructed.

He did as he was told and clicked on the page that brought him to all the videos they had uploaded online. He still didn't know what she wanted him to do.

"Next?" he prompted.

"Find your wife and click on her."

He was looking through all the videos and he came down to a bunch with all of Annabeth's teammates called Meet the 23. He figured that's what Rachel was talking about.

"The Meet the 23 thing Rach?" he asked to clarify.

She hummed in response from the other end of the line.

He clicked on the one that said Annabeth Chase and the picture of his wife looking serious in her USA jersey. Even when she wasn't trying to be intense and scary she is. It's just her natural resting face she has.

"The World Cup is definitely something huge that we need to win. Not winning doesn't exactly mean we aren't good or great; because the competition gets harder and more intense every four years," she started.

The video cut into Annabeth practicing with her team and directing her teammates with her leadership. She was running and passing the ball; it was in slow motion but Percy thought it was cool. He never saw things like that.

"But we haven't won a World Cup since 1999 with the Olympus Squad which is who I looked up to as a kid growing up. I joined the National team in 2004 and made my debut at the Olympics in Athens, but I was only a substitute at the time. Now eleven years later, and entering my third World Cup as a captain I think it's time we won it again."

It then panned out showing the games from the past World Cups and Olympics of Annabeth giving her famous Medusa Glare. It was probably the most intense part of the video. It showed her again rolling her eyes.

"Yes I know of the Medusa Glare and the Perseus joke with my husband. He still says that just to annoy me. I don't realize I'm doing it until I hear reports and re-watching matches with the announcers commentary and the closeups of my face," she let out a little laugh, "Even my twins tell me it sometimes; I blame Percy on that one all the way.

"Leadership and the drive to compete and win is what will help us. The starting lineup of us eleven are all seasoned veterans and we only get better every game we play. We strive to be the best and I think Reyna and I can lead this team to victory and take back what's been long overdue as ours."

Rachel was still on the phone as the video ended. "I thought you'd like the little shoutout she gave you Perce."

"She was making fun of me more like," was all he responded with a light laugh.

"You were asking for it Jackson. You do always make fun of her for that. Anyway I'm sending you another link on Facebook check it out."

He went on and the message popped up under Rachel's name. He clicked on the link and it opened up another tab on his computer. This one was different and featuring all the players on the team. The video first showed Thalia Grace.

"What am I afraid of?" she asked with her lips pursed.

It then went to the strawberry blonde Gwen Quigley whose green eyes widened trying to think of an answer. The it quickly went to Piper McLean who was laughing and smiling.

"Why am I laughing during this?" she asked herself.

Nyssa made a face on camera. "What kind of question is this?"

It cut back to Thalia who looked right into the camera with her electrifying blue eyes that could shock a person.

"Heights. That's all I'm afraid of," she said laughing.

Annabeth made her appearance. Her dark brown eyebrows were scrunched together and she had her thinking face on. "Like childhood fears or today?"

The video went back to Gwen. "I have an irrational fear of getting stabbed in the back literally. That's about it," she said laughing a little and shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm really afraid of Clowns.  _It_  ruined me as a child," Piper said and grimacing like she was reliving that memory.

Annabeth showed up on screen again. Her gray eyes were piercing in the camera as she spoke her answer.

"As a kid, I had an extreme fear of spiders. They're still my arch nemesis it seems, but the biggest fear I have now is my twins and any other children I might have in the future dying before I do," she said in a very serious tone.

Hazel Levesque came onto the screen with her amber eyes shining brightly. "Dying. Isn't everyone afraid of that?" she quickly said.

Reyna came on with the same serious face as Annabeth wore. "Being alone forever," she curtly answered.

Nyssa snapped her fingers and chuckled to herself. "I'm afraid of falling off a mountain or cliff. It's literally the dumbest fear but I won't ever go hiking or rock climbing or anything of that sort."

"My dad made me watch  _It_  with him when I was in sixth grade, and after that was it. Never again. Like if I see a clown within like thirty feet of me I'll scream and run away no joke," Piper continued laughing. "It's a serious problem. Thanks a lot dad."

The video ended with that from Piper who shook her head at the camera like she was still bitter at her father for that moment. It was a much more lighthearted one, of course minus Annabeth's little tidbit towards the end. But that fear was very much real inside of her.

When they were trying to figure out when to have kids, Annabeth was very hesitant to do so at first. She had grown up in a motherless environment with a father who was an airhead professor constantly moving around from place to place. Her mother had left her on the doorstep of her father's house and left without a trace. Her stepmother wasn't all too keen on her and often they just ignored each other. When Annabeth was seven, she ran away from home and was gone for a few months before the authorities found her in the middle of the woods and brought her home again. Another fear of hers was that her kids would run away at seven like she did because she was a terrible mother. Of course Percy would calm her down and deny it all the way to the heavens and tell her that she was the best mother a child could have. Percy guessed that admitting that fear would be too personal and too close to home for her liking.

"Is there a particular reason you're sending me these videos Rach?" Percy asked exiting out of youtube.

"Like you don't actually watch all of her videos and interviews on your own time. I know you Percy," Rachel said smugly on the phone.

Of course she was right and he did in fact get updates on his phone whenever something new came up about his wife. But he would never actually admit it to Rachel.

"Yeah whatever Dare. I gotta pack up to go home to the twins now."

Percy closed his laptop and put it on the couch. The phone on his ear was starting to heat up from being used for so long.

"Okay. Tell Emerson and Maya the best Aunt says hello."

"Will do," he responded getting keys to the car off the table.

"See ya," and with that she hung up on Percy.

As Percy bid his farewells to the other guys in the firehouse they all talked about how they were pumped to see Annabeth kick some ass in the cup which made him laugh. They knew that he would be gone for a few weeks, which was well deserved.

When he got in the car, he realized that it was almost eight and that he wouldn't have time to make the twins food before putting them to bed. So he went to the nearest Wendy's and brought home food for everyone and of course Annabeth would never know.


	3. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2

They had finally arrived in Winnipeg and found that all the women were there standing outside of the gate with signs that were nicely decorated with their families names on it. Maya and Emerson immediately ran to Annabeth who had a huge smile on her face as she bent down to greet the impact of two kids slamming into you. In one fluid motion she picked the both of them up and swung them around causing shrieks of laughter to erupt out of the two little bodies.

Since everyone's spouses or significant others were flying in from different parts of the United States not everyone was there yet. Jason was on the same flight as Percy was so he was hugging and kissing Piper in greeting. Thalia and Luke's ten year old daughter Heather was high fiving everyone and greeting them with a "hey what's up". Jason and Thalia were in fact related, full brother and sister. He had met Piper through Thalia a few years back.

Annabeth and Thalia were the only ones who had kids on the team, the rest were either married, a boyfriend or lifelong partners. Annabeth looked to the sides of Maya's head and turned towards Percy.

"Does she have her aids in?" she asked.

Percy shook his head no. "She didn't want to put them in today so I didn't force them."

Annabeth nodded and bent down with a big smile on her face. She signed to Maya how happy she was to have her here and asked how excited she was to see mommy play.

Maya jumped up and down and signed back that she would be screaming the loudest for the team and will make a huge glittery poster. That made Annabeth laugh and kiss her on the forehead. Percy was the only one who could understand the rapid hand signs but everyone else watching had big smiles of adoration on their faces.

"We just finished our last practice before the game tomorrow. How about we go out to eat together?" Annabeth suggested.

"That's a great idea because I'm starving," Katie put in getting a few laughs.

It was around an hour before everyone had arrived in Winnipeg for the tournament. Everyone greeted each other like they had never lost touch in the first place. It was a happy environment for everyone. The twins hugged everyone around them calling them Aunt and Uncle even though they probably met most of them only once in their short lives.

The women brought everyone to a place called Terrace in the Park. It was right next to a beautiful lake and it had everything to eat. They were able to get in pretty easily and Clarisse called up Chris Brunner to come join them for dinner. From the one sided conversation it seems like they were fighting but when Clarisse came back with a smug smile on her face everyone knew he was coming along too.

Everyone sat next to their spouses (if they had one). Zoë's partner Diana Hunter, the reporter from Fox News and former member of the Olympus Squad met up and sat down next to her. Everyone gave her a warm welcome. Annabeth was sitting next to the twins getting them settled in their booster seats so they could reach the table. Emerson seemed to be in a feisty mood so Annabeth gave a glare to get him to stop. It worked like a charm as usual Percy noticed.

Katie was shoving and hush scolding her husband Travis for whispering something in her ear that made her green eyes go wide for a second. Hazel and her fiancé Frank were just talking quietly to themselves and smiling. Everyone in general seemed to be happy together.

There was a knock on the door frame which led to the private porch that everyone was sitting at. All of the heads turned to an older gentleman with a brown beard and shaggy hair in a white tshirt and khaki shorts. He had a calm demeanor about him and a kind aura that surrounded him. All the women stood up and greeted him with hugs. Annabeth gestured for him to sit at the head of the table.

"Thank you ladies for inviting me tonight," Chiron said in a soft tone and a small smile under his beard.

"It wouldn't be the same without you Chris," Hazel said with a warm smile on her face.

The waiter came over to the table and started taking everyone's orders. All the soccer players were making sure they ate healthy choices the night before the big match. Heather, being the prideful one insisted that she didn't need help with anything and confidently ordered herself. Maya signed to Annabeth what she wanted and ordered for the twins before going for herself. After the waiter left talking started up again.

Heather's bright blue eyes sparkled with excitement as she talked to every player on the team. She was very mature for her age and knew everything about the history of soccer. She took out her dad's iphone and was tapping away on it before she showed a picture to everyone.

"I can't wait to have the Fifa '16 game! You're all in it how cool was that?" she asked excitedly.

"It certainly was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had," Nyssa said retying her bandana around her head.

Heather scrolled down the instagram again and played the little clip of the animated players in the new game. "How did they do that though?! It's so realistic looking!"

"They had us all in a really tight spandex suit and had a bunch of balls on us to do the motion capture," Katie explained.

Travis next to her laughed and Katie shot him a confused glance. "You said balls on us," he said while cracking himself up.

Katie rolled her green eyes and shoved him away from her. "I hate you."

"Then all we had to do was run around and play soccer with each other in those suits. It's actually really cool looking at us in video game form," Reyna chipped in.

"Yeah look at Annabeth guys!" Heather passed the phone to Thalia who was sitting next to her daughter.

Thalia's blue eyes looked at the screen before she started to laugh. She looked up from the phone towards everyone else.

"Oh man this is great. Beth you're gonna freak out seeing this," she said with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

Annabeth scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I can't wait," she deadpanned.

As the phone got passed around everyone started agreeing with Thalia and laughing which made Annabeth less and less excited to see it. Percy was watching his wife with amusement on his face. The phone was passed from Reyna who had a small smile on her face to Percy. When he looked at it he realized why everyone was laughing at the thought of Annabeth hating it. The picture from the video game was really, really realistic looking. They had every feature of Annabeth nailed right on the head. Even showed the tattoo on her forearm that would be visible during game day. The screenshot showed her intense gray eyes and curly blonde hair put up in a high ponytail. He leaned over to Annabeth who had a dark brown eyebrow raised up.

"This is gonna freak you out dear," he said showing her the screenshot.

Annabeth sighed deeply. "Let's get this over with I guess."

Percy showed her the screen and her eyebrows immediately scrunched together and her gray eyes widened. She grabbed the phone out of Percy's hands and got a closer look at it. Her facial expression just showed how much this freaked her out.

"What the f-" she stopped short and quickly looked at the twins and Heather who were staring at her, "heck," she changed to.

This got a roar of laughter from her teammates and Percy as well. Annabeth wasn't really into video games and this new technology stuff. She was more old school in most ways.

"How did they get it so detailed?! Like they even got the specific details of the tattoo that's visible! This is so weird! I don't like it," she exclaimed.

She handed the phone back to Heather who took it eagerly and still looked really excited about this. "I bet when you run around and your hair bounces up and down you'll be able to see the Olympic Rings on your neck! Or, or when someone hits you and your shirt rides up you can see the Women's National team sign!" she said in one gasp.

Annabeth still looked horrified with seeing herself as a video game character with such precise detail.

"Great," she said unenthusiastically.

"Cheer up Chase it's not like your kids will be buying it this year anyway," Chris commented while sipping his coke.

This was the first time he'd spoken up the entire evening. Another howl of laughter erupted from every person in the room minus Annabeth. She had a look of betrayal written on her features and her arms spread before her.

"Chris! You're supposed to be on my side here!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"I never took anyone's side my dear," Chris responded with a smile and wink.

The conversation was finished when the waiter brought over everyone's food. When everyone was served, all phones went away and everyone had little side conversations with the people next to them while they ate. Annabeth kept an eye out on the twins making sure that they wouldn't start throwing food at each other. Percy was happy to see that they were behaving themselves, but he had a feeling it was because they knew their mother was watching them and that they were in public with other people.

When they were done having dinner at the beautiful restaurant, everyone was trying to split the bill evenly between everyone. It was frustrating, but eventually they gave it to Annabeth who at Harvard had majored in mathematics and architecture therefore would be able to solve the problem the fastest. She split it up evenly telling everyone exactly how much each person owed towards the bill. Percy took out his wallet and handed the money over to Annabeth who put in a big pile in the center of the table.

Once that was over everyone started to hug each other in goodnight. Annabeth looked over to the twins who were out of their booster seats and looked them in the eye.

"I want you two to make the best puppy dog eyes okay? I know you can do it because I've seen you do it to me," Annabeth whispered and signed at the same time.

Maya's blonde eyebrows scrunched together in confusion and signed back why. Emerson who was looking at his sister nodded in agreement.

"Because I want to take you all out for a little while. I need Chris' permission and I know you two will help me out."

"Okay mommy!" They both said.

She stood up with a sly smirk on her face. As long as Percy has known his wife she had always been the one to break and bend rules as she saw fit. It used to freak him out when she dragged him into these things because he was always afraid of being caught, but he's grown accustomed to it and just goes wherever she goes now. He shook his head with a smile at his wife who just laughed a little.

"You really know how to work him don't you?" Percy whispered in her ear.

He had his arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her in right next to him. She let out another laugh.

"Of course I do, I've known how to since day one," she whispered back.

That is what made his wife so dangerous. She is able to read a person the moment she meets them. She analyzes them, their facial expressions, body language, how they speak and if she needs, can turn it against them. That's what makes her such an amazing soccer player and one to be feared by all. They both walked up to Chris who had a suspicious gleam in his brown eyes.

"What do you want Annabeth? I know that smirk anywhere," he asked.

"It's not nice to make assumptions Brunner. It makes an ass out of you and me," she said lightly.

He crossed his arms on his chest. "Well I'm assuming that I was right. So what do you want Chase that you had to bring Maya, Emerson and Percy over for?"

"I just want to stroll around Winnipeg with my family for a little while before heading off to bed. What do you say?" she asked with a small smile.

Annabeth snapped her fingers next to Emerson's ear and he nudged Maya that it was their turn to do their part. They both walked in front of Percy and Annabeth and pleaded with their amazing puppy dog eyes. Chiron looked mildly impressed with what was happening. Percy could see his resistance ebbing away the longer he looked at the twins. He looked up at Annabeth with his brown eyes.

"I can't show favoritism Chase," he began.

Maya then decided to step it up a little and signed:  _can you please let us be with our mommy please?_  which really upped the cute factor. Annabeth translated what she said to her coach. Chris let out a sigh finally.

"Your kids are just like you, and I don't know if that is necessarily a good or bad thing. You can go out with your family but must be home by ten."

Annabeth clapped her hands together in celebration before she hugged her coach quickly. They'd known each other for over ten years when he'd first picked her up from her high school in San Francisco at eighteen. He had a particular soft spot for Annabeth.

"Won't be a minute late I promise," she said before they walked out of the restaurant ready to explore Winnipeg.

They walked to Kildonan Park which was right along Main Street. The sun still hadn't set over the horizon yet so there were still plenty of people out and about in the city. Annabeth ran ahead with the twins following in suit with laughter. She really was a goofball when it came to playing with her kids. Everyone has this picture of Annabeth Chase as the serious, scary soccer player when really she was this goofball outside of the playing field. Percy took his phone out and ran over to the rest of his family.

Annabeth quickly saw what he was doing and made a stupid face for the camera as soon as he clicked the button. Percy looked at the photo and laughed hysterically. He told everyone to make a stupid face for the next picture and the three of them did not disappoint.

"This is going on every social media out there just so you know Beth," Percy warned.

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yeah I figured that much."

He opened up his instagram and started to find the right filter to post the picture on with. He decided that he would put the first photo of just Annabeth up first, zooming in on her face to make sure everyone could see how dorky she really is. He captioned it:  _Tough soccer player or dorky mom?_ And clicked send. Almost immediately it started to get likes from all the people that follow him. Of course he had the notifications turned off because otherwise it would drive him insane. He then put the next photo up with all three of them making silly faces and captioned it:  _Dorky mom and her kids are too._ With a heart eyes emoji.

This of course was sent to his twitter and facebook page that he updates all the time when he's not saving lives or dealing with life in general. People just loved seeing the twins and pictures of them are their favorite thing. (He knows because he's read all of the comments).

He looked up to his phone to see that Annabeth was cartwheeling and back hand springing everywhere while the twins tried to copy her moves. She had always been flexible and able to flip and walk on her hands. It's something he'd admired about Annabeth for a long time. The kids just ended up tackling her to the ground and dog piling on top of her and were a laughing mess.

"Hey Beth are you free before your game tomorrow?" he asked walking over to the pile of laughing bodies.

"I should be why?" she said looking up at him with mirth in her gray eyes.

"I think we should have a get together with the fans who are here for the World Cup. Like our regular ones in Boston."

"That's a great idea. I say we can do it at noon tomorrow? I'm free until three so that should be enough time right?"

"I'll put out there now, you should too," he bent down and picked up the twins in his arms, "which is why you should get off mommy now you rascals!"

He swung them around in his arms which ignited another round of joyful laughter from the four year olds. Annabeth took out her phone and snapped a picture of the three of them. Maya was on his shoulders and Emerson was jumping up trying to hit her feet. Maya stuck her tongue out at her brother and signed something that wasn't clear to Percy, but was clear to Emerson who made a face at his sister.

"Daddy can I go on your shoulders now?" he asked. Percy nodded and dropped Maya into his arms which got a high pitched scream and laughter before putting her on the ground and replacing her with Emerson.

"You all better smile this is going on my instagram!" Annabeth said.

She turned around and took a selfie getting everyone in the photo. It looked funny seeing Annabeth take a selfie because she never does it. Even though they were both twenty nine, and still really young considering, they weren't technology savvy. When that was done she looked down at her phone tapping away at the screen.

"What are you captioning it wise girl?" he asked walking over with Emerson still on his shoulders.

She had a smirk on her face. " _The real squad goals_. And the information for the meetup tomorrow."

"That sounds like a pun Beth. Was that on purpose?"

"Now that you point it out I see it was a pun, but no it wasn't on purpose."

She turned around to face her family now with a big smile on her face. She put her phone in her pocket of her jeans and crossed her arms.

"Who wants to hunt down an ice cream shop and get some ice cream?"

Cheers erupted from everyone (including Percy of course) and they walked around Winnipeg until they did finally find a shop.

* * *

"Daddy put more facepaint on me! I want an American flag all over my face!" Emerson said while Percy was finishing up Maya.

They were both wearing their white USA jerseys that Annabeth was able to buy for all of them. The kids had Chase-Jackson written on the back with Annabeth's number, and Percy just had Jackson on it. Maya had been sensible and just wanted her mom's name written out in red, white and blue on her arms along with a small USA flag on her cheek. Emerson took after Percy in his college, and the before-I-had-kids days with the painting the entire face thing.

"I'll finish yours as soon as I'm done with Maya Emerson okay?" Percy said concentrating on spelling Annabeth's name completely right without his dyslexia getting in the way. Once that was done he turned to Emerson who sat on the hotel bed his green eyes bright with excitement.

They had just come back from the meet and greet with all the fans in the park they were at last night. Lots of pictures, autographs and conversations were to be had, of course mostly with Annabeth. She was in regular clothes which was a Billy Joel tshirt from when they saw him in concert back in 2005, some jean shorts and vans.

Fans had come from all over the United States to watch the women play. Some had been huge followers of Annabeth and the Boston Breakers and Annabeth had recognized them from the streets of Boston. Percy was pretty sure they almost passed out when she told them that, and made her laugh. She took many pictures with people and made funny faces with them. Some guy even challenged her to a handstand competition which she took in stride with her. She ended up winning by a landslide but it was all in good fun. She autographed his phone case for him afterward and took a picture to post on twitter and instagram tagging the guy in it.

Annabeth had to leave a little early to start getting ready for the big debut match up against Australia. She kissed Percy and the kids goodbye before running off back to whatever hotel she was staying at with the rest of the team. People flocked to him afterward and took pictures with him, but he wasn't nearly as exciting as his wife was and he totally understood that. This was her time to shine, it was her job. He left a few minutes after with the twins saying that he'll probably see them all at the match up tonight which got a bunch of cheers from the people.

Now it was two and a half hours before game time and Percy and the twins were getting pumped up. They like both Percy and Annabeth had ADHD which made them both bouncing balls of energy. Percy put the paintbrush away in the case he brought along with him and cleaned his hands in the bathroom. He put on his jersey over his head and walked back out into the bedroom where the kids were sitting.

"Is everyone ready to watch mommy play soccer?!" Percy yelled.

"Yeah!" They both screamed back.

Percy quickly signed to Maya asking if her hearing aids were in to double check and she nodded back an affirmative yes. He winked at his daughter and gave her a thumbs up. He picked up the room key and quickly put it in his wallet, also double checking to see if the tickets were in there. Once he knew that he had everything, he opened up the door, let the twins out in front of him and they started on their way over to Winnipeg Stadium.

By the time they got over there, there were already thousands of fans making their way inside the stadium. He took out the tickets from his wallet and handed them to the twins before they started to walk over.

"Hey Percy!" a deep voice called out from somewhere behind him.

He turned around looking for the voice that called his name. Percy was pretty sure it was directed towards him because not many people were named Percy he'd like to think. The twins were also confused and searching for who called the name. Suddenly two tall guys ran over in their USA white jerseys waving at Percy. They looked exactly alike with light brown hair gelled up in the front and light brown eyes and tan skin. At first Percy had no idea who the two identical men were but then it hit him.

"Matt? Bobby?" he asked in a non-believing tone.

"Of course man! How's it going?" Bobby came up to Percy and they bro-hugged.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck because that's what he did when things turned awkward. He hasn't seen Annabeth's brothers since they got married back in 2007 which meant that they had never met the twins before. Percy felt someone tapping his leg and looked down at Maya and Emerson looking very confused. Bobby and Matt looked down and their eyes widened in realization.

"Is that Maya and Emerson?" Matt asked in shock but a smile formed on his face.

Percy looked down to the twins. "Maya, Emerson these are your Uncles Bobby and Matt, mommy's twin brothers."

"The one's mommy talks about?" Maya asked.

Percy nodded and the twins stared at the other set of older twins in front of them. They must've done some twin telepathy thing because at the same time they ran over and hugged the legs of Bobby and Matt. They seemed shocked but soon laughed and were cooing over their niece and nephew.

"I had no idea you two would be coming to watch Beth," Percy finally said.

Both of the older twins looked at Percy like he had grown a third head suddenly. As far as Percy knew Annabeth wasn't really that close with her half-brothers so it was innocent enough. They send a Christmas card each year to them, but other than that they aren't in contact much.

"Of course we'd come out to watch Anna," Matt started.

"We go to all the World Cup matches, I mean we have a whole jar at home dedicated to saving up for it every four years," Matt finished.

"Do you know how awesome it was to be able to brag to everyone in the school that our sister is on the US National team for soccer and has been in the Olympics and World Cup?" Matt continued.

"Hell yeah we were the coolest kids from sixth grade all the way up to twelfth. We love Beth." Bobby finished off.

They both turned around to show off their Chase jerseys with the number eighteen on the back in black numbers. Both brothers had a huge smile on their faces and chest bumped each other making Percy, Maya and Emerson laugh.

"She may be our half-sister, but we will always be here to support her because she is a badass captain and we love her," Matt said with affection.

They both crouched down to the heights of Maya and Emerson with their hands up in front of them.

"Your face paint looks awesome, but not as awesome as your mom," Matt said with a big smile.

"Give us high fives you two! Chases are the best!" Bobby said with excitement laced in his voice.

Maya spoke and signed at the same time. "We're Chase- _Jacksons_! Not Chase!"

Bobby gave a laugh. "My apologies Maya. Chase-Jackson's are the best!"

Then Maya and Emerson then high fived Bobby and Matthew with what seems like their whole bodies. The excitement had once again shown up inside their little bodies making them seem to vibrate with energy. The tall twins stood up and had their hands out for Percy to shake. They shook hands.

"See you around man. May Annabeth kick ass," Bobby said in farewell.

"I have no doubt she will," he said with a laugh.

"True that," Matt said as they walked away towards the entrance.

Percy and the twins followed soon afterward and went looking for their section. All of the people in the Soccer Spouse Club (only Annabeth calls it that because she thinks she so clever all the time) would be sitting in the same section. They were in the center of the stadium on the ground level, first four rows. It was the perfect view of every player on the team which Percy was thankful for. As he approached the section he saw that some of the other members were already seated and talking to each other.

He ran up to the seats and banged on the hard plastic to get the others attention. Maya and Emerson were giggling at him for acting like an idiot in the stadium. All heads turned towards Percy and smiles erupted on their faces. They all swarmed him with cheers and greetings of all kinds. Then they all went towards the twins lifting them up from the ground and hugging them tightly and getting laughs from Emerson and Maya.

Soon enough the excitement died down and everyone was back in their seats again. Maya and Emerson were to Percy's right leaving one seat open next to the aisle. To his left sat, Luke, Heather, Jason and Travis. Behind him was Frank, Dakota, Nico, Will and Chris who were all talking about how exciting the first game was going to be.

" _Hola putas_ ," a voice came from behind Percy.

Percy would know that voice from anywhere. And the fact that he greeted everyone in spanish was a dead give away as well. He had to hold in a groan before he turned around to face the man. He turned around in his seat to face a small latino man who had his entire face painted red, white and blue as well as his curly hair. He was wearing a USA jersey and had an American flag tied around his neck. It was none other than Leo Valdez.

"Okay who invited Valdez?" Frank asked with an eyebrow arched.

"Yeah this section is for the people whose significant others are on the team," Jason emphasized laying his legs on the next rows armrest not allowing access to them.

Leo crossed his arms and gave a face that read 'are you serious right now?'. It would've worked if he didn't have his entire face and arms painted red, white and blue. He looked ridiculous with his bitch face.

"Excuse you, but as best friend to the starting left midfielder Piper McLean, I think I deserve to be here with the rest of you," Leo said defending himself.

Chris patted the latino on the arm with a small smile.

"It's okay Valdez;  _sólo estábamos tomando el pelo amigo,_ " Chris said speaking to his fellow latino.

"You guys always do this," he grumbled making his way towards his seat which happened to be next to Frank.

"It's all in good fun, you should know that Good-Time Charlie," Percy injected with a smirk.

Percy knew that Leo's sour mood wouldn't last too long. He was probably the most energetic out of all of them and usually bounced back pretty quickly. In a few minutes he would be back to joking around with all of the guys and making sexual jokes that Percy would have to beg his kids to never repeat.

All of them were so busy making fun of Leo that they had missed the teams coming out to the field to do some last minute practice before the big debut game. Maya and Emerson were jumping up and down pointing towards the curly blonde hair that belonged to Annabeth. She was sprinting back and forth kicking the soccer ball to her partners and quickly changing directions. Chris Brunner blowed the whistle and they changed positions to where Annabeth was now kicking the ball to Thalia.

It was weird watching the entire squad practice, all twenty three of them. Percy knew who all of the women were by name and looks. They all had their game faces on and looked calm as could be. It was quite a different atmosphere from yesterday's dinner and at the airport with all of them. It was time for them to do their jobs, and represent their nation.

"Welcome to Winnipeg Stadium. The time is now 6:15, and in just fifteen minutes the debut match between the United States of America and Australia will begin. Starting players on both teams head out to the field for national anthems please," the announcer boomed over the PA.

All the players ran in towards the sidelines to grab some water quickly. The starting eleven took off their FIFA pinnies that they had to wear. Chris walked up to Annabeth and Reyna to give them their captain badges that they wore on their right biceps. They ran out onto the field and lined up on the right side of the referees.

"Everyone please stand for the Australian national anthem," the announcer said.

Everyone present in the stadium stood up at the same time. People who had hats on took them off as a sign of respect. The Australian team, dressed in a navy blue outfit with a yellow trim on the bottom of the sleeves and collars looked towards their flag and was mouthing the words to their national anthem. When that was done there was some clapping, mostly from the Australian fans who were present.

"Now the United States national anthem."

As the Star Spangled Banner played throughout the stadium, Percy just looked at Annabeth the entire time. She had her game day face on, which meant that she was stone cold and her Medusa Glare would be coming out soon. She quietly mouthed the words with her hand over her heart at the flag. When that was done, cheers erupted from the stadium that consisted of mostly United States fans.

Both teams walked up to each other and shook hands as a sign of good will and good sportsmanship. The photographers grabbed both teams and placed them in two rows for the team picture for the match. That was done in a minute or two before the captains from both teams met at center field to do the coin flip. Reyna and Annabeth shook hands with the one captain from Australia. The coin flip happened quickly and the two of them ran towards the rest of their team.

"The starting line up for the United States of America," the announcer said.

"Goalkeeper, number twelve, Clarisse La Rue!"

Cheers erupted from the stadium for the well loved goalkeeper. She was the best in the world and popular among the fans. Percy heard Chris cheer extra loud because it was his wife they were talking about.

"Center defender, number two, Gwen Quigley!"

The strawberry blonde from Scandinavia stepped out onto the sideline next to Clarisse waving around to all the fans. She turned towards the section everyone was in and winked to Dakota who gave a wolf whistle in response.

"Center defender, number ten, Nyssa Samara!"

The tough dark skinned defender raised her fist high in the air with a big smile on her face. She was a force to be reckoned with and feared among other teams. She pointed towards everyone in the section with a smile on her face. They all whistled in response to her.

"Captain, left defender, number twenty, Reyna Ramírez-Arellano!"

Reyna walked out in all her calm glory as cheers erupted around her. She was the most serious player on the team, and her stoic personality intimidated most people who interacted with her.

"Right defender, number six, Hazel Levesque!"

The small African-American walked out onto the sideline next to the towering Reyna. She had a big smile on her face as she waved to everyone in the stands. Her cinnamon hair was tied up into a tight bun on top of her head and the white and neon green uniform made her skin pop out more. Frank whooped and hollered for his wife as she made her appearance.

"Center midfield on offense, number twenty two, Katie Stoll!"

Travis stood up and started clapping like a wild man at the mention of his wife. She seemed to have heard his yelling because she whipped her head around to face the section they were in and rolled her eyes.

"Center midfield on defense, number nineteen, Zoë Khaleel!"

The middle eastern woman stood up with her back straight and hands behind her back. Like Reyna she was always stoic, especially during game day. She was someone not to mess with and one of the most experienced players on the team. She curtly nodded towards everyone cheering.

"Right midfielder, number four, Bianca di Angelo!"

The young player on the team made her way up next to Zoë with energy. Nico, her younger brother was cheering for her with enthusiasm. It was probably one of the only times Percy hadn't seen him wearing all black, and probably the most excited he's ever seen the kid. Granted Percy hadn't known him for long, as Bianca had just joined to Boston Breakers two years ago. But he was glad that he was enthusiastic about this.

"Left midfielder, number fourteen, Piper McLean!"

The Cherokee beauty made her way up and turned around towards the section they were all in. Leo and Jason were cheering like mad men over their best friend, and for Jason his wife as well. She laughed at them, probably thinking they were all idiots and winked at all of them.

"Right forward, number twenty three, Thalia Grace!"

The punk looking woman made her way next to Piper. Her black spiky hair was held back by a neon blue headband to match her blue streaks going through her hair. Heather and Luke were cheering on with extreme enthusiasm. Heather even blowing a horn that she brought with her. Thalia turned around and gave a rocker symbol with her hands which Heather eagerly imitated. Percy figured that it was a mother-daughter thing they had going on.

"And your other captain, left forward, number eighteen, Annabeth Chase!"

Annabeth walked up and the eruption of cheers coming from the fans was enough to make Percy deaf. Both Maya and Emerson were on the ledge of the stadium cheering as loud as they could for their mother. Percy handed them the big sign that they had made back in Boston and they all held it up together to show Annabeth. She turned around with a raised eyebrow and a big smile on her face. She ran over to them and hugged all of them saying she loved all of them in their ears. She waved back to everyone else, and suddenly went into a back handspring landing on her palms and walking backwards to her place next to Thalia. When she stood up again, there was a goofy smile on her face and she was laughing as the cheering got louder.

Chris yelled something Annabeth which made her turn around towards him. She just waved him off like whatever he said was no big deal and lined up next to her teammates. Percy could see that Chris was a little annoyed but he quickly got over it because she was his favorite. (It was a secret favorite that Percy knew).

They all huddled together for a pep talk for a few moments. The rest of the team who were not starters joined in as well and all twenty three of them put their arms on each others shoulders. They started to move from side to side in their chant that they do before every game. Once it ended the broke out of the huddle and the starting eleven clapped and made their way onto the field. The crowd erupted into cheers as the game was about to begin.

Australia had the ball first so Annabeth and Thalia were positioned on the outside of the midfield circle while the two Australian forwards were inside with the ball. Up on the big screen there was already a close up of Annabeth's Medusa Glare she was making. Emerson pointed up to the screen.

"Mommy's making that scary face again!" he exclaimed.

Everyone looked up at the big screen showing her face and laughed when they saw the infamous glare coming from his wife. Percy looked down at his two kids who didn't seemed to be fazed by it, but excited to see it instead. They were smart enough to know that that face meant it was game time. The whistle blew and the game started.

Almost immediately Thalia and Annabeth ran after the Australian forwards to try and grab the ball from them before they made it further into their territory. The Australian woman got past Annabeth who decided not to pursue and moved forward up the field. Piper got a hold on the ball and did a quick push past the Australian. She looked up trying to find a player open before turning her body towards Bianca and long passed it to her. Bianca trapped the ball with her chest pushing the ball forward and kicked it up to Thalia.

Thalia was screaming something on the field and pointing her finger. Percy had no doubt that it was foul language laced into the sentence and it was only three minutes into the game. He was glad Heather and the twins couldn't hear Thalia.

Katie who was the offensive midfielder ran up to the left of Thalia with her arm up in the air signalling she was open. She had a Australian player trailing her quickly. Katie's light brown ponytail was swishing as she turned her head back. Thalia passed the ball to Katie who then one-touched it back to Reyna who had come up past the midfield line to grab it. She then passed it back to Nyssa who was the center defender who then passed to Clarisse.

Clarisse ran up to the ball punting it up into the air deep into Australian territory. It was going in the center and Percy could see Annabeth every couple of milliseconds look up to see where the ball was while she was running towards it. Emerson and Maya were cheering as loud as the could for their mother. She quickly screamed something towards Thalia who nodded curtly in response. Annabeth jumped up past the Australian player trailing her heading the ball towards Thalia who was ahead of her.

Thalia one touched it with her right foot sending it forward towards open field. She quickly caught up to it and passed it towards Annabeth who had moved towards the center. Annabeth did some really fancy move that Percy couldn't even fathom to explain and passed it towards Piper who then sprinted towards the middle in the penalty box. Up on the big screen it was showing Annabeth yelling something towards Piper. Percy's eyes widened when he saw what she was saying. He was thankful that his kids couldn't lip read too well.

Piper was nutmegging all the defenders doing fancy foot work around them. She got a clearing, kicked the ball and scored the first goal of the game. The crowd erupted into deafening cheers as all the players ran up to hug Piper. Annabeth was the first to get to her jumping on her back before Thalia and the rest of them joined in.

"In the twelfth minute, left midfielder Piper McLean has scored a goal for the United States,"

All of them went back to their positions ready to start again. The Australians had the ball inside the midfield circle. The ref blew the whistle signalling it was time to start again. Katie came rushing in towards the circle while Thalia and Annabeth ran forward up the field. Bianca was running up the right flank as Thalia was more towards the center. Hazel in order to keep the pressure up, ran to where Bianca was before to take a more offensive approach until she was needed back.

Zoë ran up and grabbed the ball from the Australian doing some quick movements and passing it back to Reyna. Reyna switched spots with Zoë who then went onto defense and passed it across and back to Nyssa who was open in the center. She then passed it to Gwen who was the sweeper who kicked it up towards where Reyna was. Reyna chested the ball to the ground, successfully trapping it before passing up to Piper.

Piper quickly lost the ball to the Australian woman that slammed into her to get the ball. Piper didn't go down but Percy could tell she was pissed. The Australian crossed the ball to the midfielder who then passed it off to the other forward who pushed it forward into the center of the penalty box. She sprinted and power kicked the ball and it went into the top right corner of the net resulting in a goal for Australia.

There was some cheering from the Australian fans that had trekked out to Winnipeg for the tournament. It was silent for a few moments as the American fans took in what just happened to their team. Then in a wave across the stadium some booing occurred from all the fans of the United States. Even his friends were booing the team after they scored. Percy wasn't really about that.

He saw on the big screen that Annabeth and Reyna were yelling something to the other teammates and that they all ran into a quick huddle on the team. The camera that was strapped to a wire across the stadium and playing field went over the heads of the team. Reyna was shouting something at them waving her hands around while doing so. After she was done Annabeth took her turn. When she was finished yelling she clapped her hands and the team dispersed onto the field once more.

It was almost halftime with the score being 1-1. There was still a whole other half to defeat them but it was still nerve wracking. He turned around to see Leo's facepaint sweating down his face and blurring together in a big mess.

"I'd hate to be on the receiving end of Reyna and Annabeth's wrath," Leo said.

"Tell me about it," Percy muttered to the Latino.

The game kept playing and the ball went back and forth. A couple of times Annabeth would shoot at the goal only for it to be caught by the goalie, reflected by the defense or shot wide. The crowd would tense up every time they shot at the goal only to let out a sigh instead of a roaring cheer. Australia had some shots as well, but Clarisse got all of them with ease. Percy had a feeling that she wouldn't let another goal in. It was still a tied game when halftime came around.

"And now it's halftime presented to you by Coca-Cola. There will be a fifteen minute intermission before the match between the United States of America and Australia begins again," the announcer declared over the PA.

"Well this game sure is exciting," Jason said.

"Yeah well it's mostly because your wonderful wife scored the only goal in the game," Luke retorted with a smirk.

Jason raised his sunglasses so his crystal blue eyes could be seen. He gave his brother-in-law a half-hearted glare and pursed his lips together.

"That's not true," he tried to deny.

"And I will call bull-" Leo started then realizing that there were little kids around, "BS. That is BS."

"Daddy what does BS stand for?" Emerson asked innocently.

"Baloney sandwich," Percy quickly covered. It seemed to work as Emerson took the bait.

"Good one," Dakota teased.

Percy pointed a finger towards the half drunk. "Wait until you have kids; then you'll understand Quigley."

"Not for a few more years Jackson. We're not as eager as you two were. Beth was pregnant before the freaking wedding!" Dakota exclaimed.

Percy turned to face his kids only to find them waving on the refs and talking to other fans around them with no problem. He whipped around and gave Dakota the bird before his kids could turn back around.

Leo got up from his seat and stretched. He let out a sigh of relief when he was finished.

"Me and Jace are gonna get beers, everyone want one?" he announced.

Jason looked at Leo like he was crazy and in return Leo just gave him a big toothy smile. Jason rolled his eyes and stood up towering over the Latino.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes. Okay be back in a few."

With that they both left the seats and went up the sections to get beers. All the guys idly chatted for a little while. Right before Leo and Jason came back with the beers, Diana came to the section. She was wearing her wife's jersey and her auburn hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail.

"Oh look who joined the party," Travis called out, "Diana what's up girl?"

She just rolled her light blue eyes at him and crossed her arms. "Travis a pleasure as always."

"What brings you here Hunter? Thought you'd be reporting the game," Frank asked.

"I'll be down on the field reporting from there. But it's halftime and I just wanted to check up on you goons before I head off again."

"How sweet," Luke said with sarcasm.

"Well we're fine because most of us are pretty sober. But Valdez and Grace are bringing back beers for all of us; so I'd suggest you leave now before Valdez see's you," Chris warned.

Diana's eyes widened at the mention of Leo's name. She hated that guy with a burning passion and lived to avoid him at all costs. She just nodded.

"Well I'll probably see you all after the game," she said in her farewell.

As she was walking up, Leo and Jason were coming down with two buckets of beers in their hands. Leo turned around to face Diana.

"Diana what's good girl? Still want some?" he asked.

"I'm lesbian Valdez! Get it through your thick skull!" she yelled back.

They came back and started to distribute the beers among all the guys in the section. Percy took a sip of the bitter liquid and leaned back in his chair.

"This halftime presented to you by Coca-Cola is now over. Now please welcome back the Women's Team for Australia and the United States of America!" The announcer boomed.

All the players ran out onto the field and into position. Annabeth and Thalia were now inside the midfield circle on the opposite side from the first half. Thalia had the ball under her right foot as she waited for the referee to blow the whistle to begin the second half. When she did blow it, Thalia passed to Annabeth who then quickly turned and kicked it to Piper. The Australians were running up to her to try and get the ball from Piper who then quickly passed it off to Zoë before they could get to her.

Zoë then kicked it up to Annabeth who had come towards the center on the other side of the field in Australian territory. She stretched her leg to get a touch on the ball before immediately running with it up the field. She scissored and nutmegged her way past defenders. On the big screen Percy could see Piper yell something to Annabeth. She seemed to understand and kicked the ball with her heel back to Piper making the defender confused for a second. Piper then crossed it over to Bianca on the right flank.

Out from behind her an Australian player took the ball from Bianca and started on the offensive. The defense started to get ready as they came closer. All the midfielders retreated to help with the defense. Hazel ran up to the girl and slid on the turf to get the ball out from underneath the Australian. She was successful and it went out of bounds resulting in a throw in.

As that move happened the entire crowd cheered for Hazel as she got up and they replayed it in slow motion on the big screen above the field. Frank was cheering the loudest for his girlfriend and raised his beer up in celebration.

The Australian threw the ball in only for it to be headed back up the field by both Katie and then Zoë up to Piper. She quickly trapped it only to be surrounded by two Australian players. She chopped the ball back and passed it to Reyna who with the outside of her right foot pushed towards the center looking for an opening. She yelled something and pointed up and kicked it back up to Bianca.

She seemed to have plenty of space up the right flank and started sprinting with the ball. As she neared the penalty box she passed the ball to Thalia and ran into the center effectively switching spots with her and Thalia passed it back up to her. The defender tried to attack but Bianca pulled a quick move with her left foot and shot the ball.

The ball seemed to fly in slow motion into the air. Percy stood up from his seat watching it soar through and into the corner of the net. As soon as it went in time seemed to speed up again as the eruption of cheers shook the stadium to it's core. Percy pumped his hands in the air, making some of his beer fall out of the bottle and onto his hand. Nico was on the seat jumping up and down screaming in joy.

"THAT'S MY SISTER! MY SISTER JUST SCORED THAT GOAL!" he was shouting to everyone in the section.

Random people were jumping and hugging each other in pure joy. Even Nico in his euphoric state was doing it as well. A chant of "I believe that we will win", started by Travis and Leo caught wind quickly.

"In the sixty first minute, right midfielder Bianca di Angelo has scored a goal for the United States making it 2-1," the announcer boomed.

The game quickly resumed again with the Australians trying to move on the offensive now. As an Australian player tried to move down the left flank Piper intercepted by sliding on the turf and colliding with the Australian. The crowd let out a hiss in response as the Australian player was clutching her stomach in pain. The referee ran up to Piper with her whistle blowing loud into the stadium. She took out a yellow card and held it up high in the air.

Piper rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in exasperation. She walked up the ref, pointed at the FIFA insignia and said " _is this real?_ " before laughing and walking away from the ref. Percy only knew that because it was on the big screen.

"In the sixty fourth minute, left midfielder Piper McLean has been given a yellow card."

The crowd started booing after the announcement. It amazed Percy how fast the atmosphere of the stadium changed in just a few minutes of the game.

"REF THAT'S BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT!" Jason screamed with his hands cupped around his mouth.

He seemed to have forgotten that there was kids around him. Heather turned around with an eyebrow raised and blue eyes wide. Thankfully Emerson and Maya decided to ignore Jason's remark.

The game kept going back and forth with cheers and chants erupting every couple of minutes in the crowd. The sun was beating down on the seats making Percy sweat a little in his jersey. During a throw in, the first sub was called in.

"Subbing in Bianca di Angelo, number sixteen, Miranda Gardiner!"

The redhead ran out onto the field highfiving Bianca on her way out. She quickly took her position bouncing on her toes. The crowd cheered for the fresh set of legs out on the field. When Hazel threw the ball back into play the game resumed. Not a minute later did Australia sub in. Percy wasn't really paying attention at this point to the announcer.

Gwen had somehow gotten the ball passed back to her and she kicked it up to Nyssa who then powerhouse kicked it deep into Australian territory. Annabeth was on the move, trapping the ball with her chest and chopping it back to Thalia. Miranda then took the ball from Thalia who had short passed it who then sent it to Hazel. She pointed across the field and kicked it to Reyna who passed it forward to Zoë. With all these passes, they were sending the Australian team running in all directions, slowly tiring them out.

Zoë then passed the ball up to Piper who then switched spots with Annabeth as she went to strike. Piper quickly brought the ball up to the penalty box and for a split second had an opening in the defense. She took the shot slamming it into the corner resulting in a goal from her again.

Cheers erupted and Jason and Leo were jumping up and down hugging each other while drinking their beers. Leo was waving his American flag cape like a bird trying to fly shouting out things in a mix of spanish and english.

"GOOOAAALLL! MI MEJOR AMIGA! PIPER SCORED A GOAL!" Leo screaming.

When the game began again the crowd was still buzzing from the second goal scored by Piper in the seventy-eighth minute of the game. The team also seemed to be invigorated with new energy and motivation to keep the game alive. The defense was kicking ass making sure that nothing got past them.

In the minute after the goal, the US subbed in again. This time for Thalia who was then replaced by Phoebe Cacciatore. They quickly chest bumped before Thalia clapped as she ran off the field. As the time ticked by minute by minute and the Australians were struggling with getting past Reyna and the defense the crowd seemed to get more excited and full of energy. Winning the game was looking more positive by the second. The final sub that came out was Piper who was then replaced by Silena Beauregard. The two were close and clapped each others backs as Piper ran off. When she was jogging off she was applauded by everyone in the stadium. She had a big smile on her face and was mouthing thank yous to everyone.

Even with the two minutes of extra time on the board after the ninety minutes, the women were just playing possession with each other at this point. When the ref blew the final whistle ending the game, the United States ran onto the field. Annabeth sprinted towards Piper and nailed her with a bear hug knocking her to the ground. This made Emerson and Maya burst out into hysterics looking at their mom. After their celebration they lined up, Reyna and Annabeth first and shook hands with everyone on the Australian team in good sportsmanship.

With that everyone started leaving the stadium full of excitement.


	4. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 3

It was July 4th, the day before the final matchup between the United States and Japan. Just like it was four years ago, it's the rematch that everyone's been waiting for. It was a rough ride leading up to the finals. In the quarter-finals, Piper and Annabeth were taken out of the game due to two yellow cards in the tournament. When the decision was made, everyone who was rooting for the United States freaked out. It was nerve-wracking losing some of the best players on the team going into the next stage against China.

Chris Brunner had made the decision to start some players who hadn't touched the field yet. In Annabeth's position he put in Jaz Anderson, and for Piper he played Zia Rashid. When the lineup was announced, people were worried beyond belief. Jaz and Zia were great players, but they had yet to start. But when the game began, hope was lifted again. They played with a new vigor that showed the world they were ready for this competition. Jaz was aggressive and didn't shy away from the ball. Zia as well, she was more on the defensive side when she played, but she was great at finding open spaces for passes. The only goal scored was by Zoë in the fifty-first minute of the game, securing the win for the United States.

The next game in the semi-finals was even more intense. Going against the number one team in the world, Germany. Percy had watched all their games on tv and he was incredibly impressed with the squad. It would be the toughest game they would play in the tournament for sure. Annabeth and Piper were back from their little suspension during this game, and they were ready to win.

This match went back and forth with an equal amount of possession in the first half. There were some close calls from both sides as corner kicks and free kicks were being thrown around. It wasn't looking so good for the United States. In the fifty-ninth minute of the game, Hazel, the second defender get's a yellow card. In the first half it was Sadie Kane who got the other yellow. Hazel realizing she just got a penalty kick for Germany starts tearing up on the field. Clarisse runs up to Hazel and starts to comfort her. A couple of seconds later they hugged it out and the crowd stood up cheering for Hazel. She had a watery smile and waved to everyone in the stands. This was the most intense moment of the game. Percy knew that Germany had never missed a PK in this tournament ever. And by some miracle above, Germany missed it and the crowd went completely nuts. Percy was pretty sure his voice got blown out and he almost started crying.

After that the game quickly changed. The United States kept the possession of the ball and played down in Germany's side. And just like that, in the sixty-eight minute, Germany's player gets a yellow card and the United States gets their shot at a PK. The air was almost as tense as it was for Germany shooting. It was dead quiet as Annabeth walked up to the ball to shoot one-on-one with the goalkeeper. All the players were bouncing on their toes in anticipation. When Annabeth's foot connected with the ball, it went high into the top right corner. Once again the cheers erupted shaking the stadium and Percy right down to the core. Percy started crying a little and he was jumping up and down. He picked up the twins and swung them around before kissing them each on the cheek. It was a euphoric state he and everyone else was in.

Annabeth jumped up high pumping her fist in the air before sprinting down and across the field only to be tackled by Thalia and Piper together. They showed her face on the big screen for the instant replay and Percy never seen his wife so happy in a soccer game. All he could think about is how he wanted that picture framed in their house somewhere.

In the seventy-fifth minute, Bianca was replaced by Silena. By this point the crowd couldn't stop buzzing from the excitement of having the upper hand against the best team in the world. A few more shots were kicked only to not be successful. Five minutes later, Piper is subbed out and Laurel Hamilton makes her debut in the World Cup.

As the timer ticks on, it looked promising for the United States, but they couldn't get comfortable with just a 1-0 lead. Reyna had taken the ball up the side into German territory she was pointing and looking for someone to open up for her to pass in between the red uniforms of Germany. Laurel was open and she kicked to towards her. Laurel pushed foward into the goalie box, right next to the goal like. She quickly chopped it and Silena seeing the opportunity made a run. Laurel kicked the ball to Silena who then ran up and tipped the ball into the next causing it be 2-0 and sealing the win for the United States.

Silena gets up from the ground and starts sprinting and pointing to the goal. She's shaking her arm up and down and screaming at the top of her lungs. She then gets bear hugged by everyone who seem to be crying from pure happiness. The announcer says that it's her first international goal which is a big deal.

"In the eighty fourth minute, number five, Silena Beauregard scores against Germany with an assist from number fifteen, Laurel Hamilton."

The game was sealed after that goal. The final score was 2-0 and after the final whistle blew everyone on the United States team ran out onto the field to hug each other. They were once again going to the finals to play for the World Cup.

So now it was after practice the day before the Championship and Percy and Annabeth were sitting on a bench outside in a park. It was a beautiful day outside with not a cloud in the sky to block the sun. Annabeth had her curly hair half up and down. She was wearing a black and white striped mock-neck dress that went to her thighs. She had some gladiator boots on and a big maroon floppy hat and some sunglasses on. She looked like someone who works in SoHo, not a famous soccer player who usually only wears sports clothes. The twins were hanging out with Heather and the Castellan's today so they were all alone.

"I have something to tell you," Annabeth said suddenly.

That peaked Percy's interest suddenly. He turned his head towards Annabeth who was still staring straight forward.

"What's up?"

"I'm pregnant."

Percy nearly fell off the bench when she said it. It certainly was not what he expected her to say. He wondered why she felt the need to tell him now of all times. When he recovered from the initial shock he turned his body towards her. She was looking at him now, but still had her sunglasses blocking her eyes.

"Are you serious? Beth, you're pregnant and playing soccer?!"

"Relax, I'm only around four weeks along. I figured it out last week, but I didn't want to not play so this is a secret between you and me got it?" she demanded.

He nodded but he couldn't believe how crazy his wife was. Apparently she had been pregnant during her last World Cup as well with the twins, but she just didn't know it.

"Shit Annabeth, you're insane," he said laughing a little bit.

She smirked at him and put a hand on his arm. He loved when she touched him like that because her hands were always soft and warm.

"And I think I'm retiring after this. If we do win and we have to do a Victory Tour, I won't be able to play or go back to the Breakers. I'll have to immediately retire and not even play in Rio next summer either."

"Are you sure about this Beth?"

She just smiled at him and nodded her head yes. She took off her sunglasses revealing her gray eyes and dark brown eyebrows.

"The twins will be starting school in September. I've been around for a while, and I think it's time for some fresh legs to be in the spotlight. I actually want to have a real family lifestyle without all the moving around and travelling. It's been a good run for me."

"Whatever makes you happy."

They kissed then which was amazing in Percy's opinion. He loved his wife more than anything and would be happy with whatever she decides to do. When they broke apart she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I'll make the official announcement after tomorrow's game."

* * *

When the final whistle blew signalling that the United States had won the World Cup against Japan, Percy almost ran out onto the field to grab Annabeth and hug her tightly. During the game she completed a hat trick scoring three minutes into the game, and then another two minutes later. This game was quickly showing what the turnout would be like. The crowd already went nuts with horns, drums and screams being heard all around.

The United States kept the possession of the ball for most of the game, with Japan not even coming close to scoring. In the fourteenth minute, Katie stole the ball from Japan and flew up the field to score the third goal in the game. Annabeth and Thalia hugged her first and everyone else joined in as well. Two minutes later, Gwen kicked the ball up to Annabeth who then pushed it forward up to the midfield line. She looked up and let the ball fly at midfield. As the ball went soaring through the air Japan's goalie tried to scramble back into the goal box. She tipped the ball with her hands and it went into the goal.

Annabeth fell to the floor as her third goal to seal the hat-trick went in. Everyone around her swarmed her with hugs. The big screen in the stadium showed a closeup of her face as she was screaming in joy. It was probably the greatest goal to ever be played in soccer. Percy's arms erupted in goosebumps as he couldn't believe what he had just saw. It was now 4-0 United States, a very different turnout compared to 2011.

In the twenty seventh minute Japan scored a goal, but it still left a large gap to be filled in the remaining minutes of the game. Percy knew it was possible, but highly unlikely. Everyone in the stadium was up out of their seats by this point, too excited to sit back down again after seeing four goals in the first half of the game.

Bianca in the fifty fourth minute of the game came back and scored the fifth and final goal for the United States. Everyone went crazy knowing for sure that the United States had this game in the bag. The three substitutions that Chris made were Lacy, Kayla and Lou Ellen for Bianca, Thalia and Reyna. There was a standing ovation each time the player went out and they all waved and thanked the fans as well.

When the final whistle blew, cheers erupted. The entire United States team ran out onto the field and tackled Annabeth to the floor. Gold confetti shot out covering the stadium and field with it. They all lined up and shook hands with Japan's team. Photographers swarmed the field to get shots of the champions. Percy then saw Annabeth run over towards him and he realized what she was doing. She jumped up to the railing and Percy met her and they kissed right there. She then went over to Maya and Emerson and kissed them as well. The twins were so excited they wouldn't stop screaming.

"I love you guys so much!" She yelled over the cheering.

She then jumped down and ran back to the field waving and smiling bigger than he'd ever seen. When the ceremony was going on, she was awarded the Golden Ball for best player in the tournament. There were tears in her eyes as she accepted the award and stepped aside for the others. Piper was given the Silver Ball, and Clarisse was given the Golden Glove.

The all received their gold medals and when it was time to give the World Cup Trophy, the team handed it to Annabeth first. She raised it in the air with a triumphant smile on her face. She proceeded to kiss the trophy before handing it off to the other players on the team.

Gwen and Sadie had taken a USA flag and was running up and down the field with it spread open wide. Silena had run over to the pile of confetti was was sitting down in it throwing it around. Annabeth soon joined her in that playing around acting like a bunch of goofballs. Percy was still cheering loudly and clapping for them. He knew a bunch of great pictures will be up tomorrow morning.

He was so proud of all of them.

The next morning, after they had gotten their new three star white jersey's and they were all wearing their new black world champions tshirt, Annabeth was doing an interview with the Fox Sports 1 people. Of course, in the celebration picture that showed up in the newspaper from them in the locker room, Annabeth was holding a bottle of champaign. She of course couldn't drink it though with her being pregnant. Speculation had already started buzzing when she was the only one not hungover the next morning, or at least trying to hide it. Silena and Piper didn't bother to hide it.

She was sitting with Aaron Snipes, Athena Quinn, Diana Hunter, Victoria Hunter and Hector Beckett. Percy was on the sides watching the interview go on.

"We're back with world champion, captain of the United States Women's National Team and the winner of the Golden Ball, Annabeth Chase," Diana Hunter started.

"Thank you for having me again," Annabeth responded with a smile.

"Word on the street already is that you have some big news to share with us after this magnificent win," Victoria prodded.

Annabeth let out a little laugh and shook her head yes. She crossed her legs in her skinny jeans she was wearing and tucked a curl behind her ear.

"Yes, I guess it's official that I will be retiring from the United States National Team and as well as the NWSL immediately," she said.

All five of the reporters clapped for Annabeth which made her blush a little at the attention she got from the statement.

"So you won't be playing in the Rio Olympics next summer?" Athena questioned.

"Correct. I'm also pregnant with my third child."

"I'd just like to say that I called it!" A voice came from the crowd.

It parted to show Piper making her way up to the stand. Annabeth laughed and rolled her eyes at her best friend. She went up to Annabeth and hugged her quickly and patted her head which Annabeth shook her head at.

"Mmmhmm okay Piper," Annabeth said jokingly.

"Sorry for crashing! Carry on!" with that Piper ran off and back into the crowd. She then proceeded to sign autographs and sign pictures.

"Is there a specific reason for retiring now? If I remember correctly, you were pregnant with your twins during the last World Cup," Hector asked.

"I've been around for a long time. I got called up when I was seventeen in the 2004 Olympics. I played for eleven years and it's been the greatest eleven years of my life. But my twins Maya and Emerson are starting kindergarten in September, and I have a third one coming now. I think it's time to just settle down and let some new players come in achieve greatness. We have so many young players with potential. Bianca, Sadie, Hazel, Lacy and so many others in the NWSL as well. It's their time to shine now."

"It has been an honor playing with you Annabeth Chase, and we thank you for your years here and wish you a happy retirement," Victoria said.

"You were a great teammate to me when you were a rookie, and to see you grow into a legend, I'm very proud," Diana added.

Annabeth was full on blushing at this point. "Thank you."

She stood up and shook hands with Hector and Aaron. She nodded towards Athena who did it back and hugged Diana and Victoria.

She had found out Athena was her mother a few years back when her father let it slip by accident. It had connected all the dots on why her father didn't want her to play soccer initially, why they looked alike and why Athena seemed to avoid Annabeth like the plague during interviews with her. Tensions were still high with the both of them, and they just ignored each other respectively at this point.

When she walked off, she went over to Percy and hugged him tight. She hugged the twins as well and kissed them on their foreheads. She then went on to sign tshirts, cleats, posters and anything fans would give her. She took photos with them as well with a big smile on her face.

When it died down, she took Percy by the hand and with Emerson in the other. She looked so relaxed.

"Let's enjoy retirement together finally yeah?" she asked.

He just laughed and agreed.


End file.
